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Writing

Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.

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Technology

Simulation as Inoculation

Every advent of new media creates the justifiable reaction from some that the necessarily accompanied amputation may not be worth the extension made possible by the new tools. This is not unique to the Digital Age. Lamoignon Malesherbes, the French politician who was counsel for the defense of Louis XVI,…

by Garrett SoucyApril 2, 2024
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Eschatology

Reject Optimism

A response to Gage Crowder's " The Hole in our Hope ?" Already, the first pages of the Bible promise a bright future. The story starts with the creation of heaven and earth, where heaven is perfect, but the earth is in a state of formless emptiness. Yet, God takes…

by Bogumil JarmulakMarch 27, 2024
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Eschatology

The Hole in our Hope? A Rejoinder

A rejoinder to Bubu Jarmulak's essay, " Embrace Pessimism ." Whereas calumnious critiques are reflections of more on the critic than the work criticized, good critiques are always opportunities for reassessment and improvement if they are received as such . Since its renaissance, the biblical doctrine of postmillennialism—or “optimistic eschatology,”…

by Gage CrowderMarch 26, 2024
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Biblical Studies

Jesus Did Not Pray to Avoid the Cross at Gethsemane

Several decades ago, a pastor (and friend) mentioned in passing at one of our regular breakfasts together that he wasn’t satisfied with the usual reading of Jesus’s prayer in Gethsemane, the usual reading being that Jesus asked the Father to avoid the Cross at Gethsemane. We turned to the passage,…

by James R. RogersMarch 19, 2024
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Church Music

Holy Toledo: A Critique of Eclecticism

On May 21, 1604, the cathedral of Toledo in Spain held job interviews for the post of choirmaster, the head of music at the church. The position had been vacated when the previous occupant, Alonso Lobo, was poached by the nearby cathedral of Seville, and Toledo needed a replacement who…

by John AhernMarch 5, 2024
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Covenant

The Docetic Covenant and Phantom Church Membership

Imagine — counterfactually: on the night he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus held up an empty hand and said, ‘This is the blood of the covenant poured out for you. Drink of it.’ But there was no cup, no wine, nothing. If there’s no sign of the covenant, is there…

by John CarpenterFebruary 27, 2024

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Eucharistic meditation, Christmas Day

John 3:16: God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. How do we know God loved the world? John tells us that He demonstrates His love in sending His Son. To paraphrase Paul, God…

December 25, 2005

Exhortation, Christmas Day

As Pastor Wilson will remind us in the sermon this morning, the Christmas gospel announces the coming of day. Those in darkness see a great light, as the Sun rises with healing in His wings. The light has come into the world that lightens every man, to give light to…

December 25, 2005

Luther Christmas Sermon

Here is a selection of a 1530 Christmas Sermon by Martin Luther. You have heard the story from the Gospel of St. Luke of how it came to pass that our Lord Christ was born and then also the message of the angel, who announced who the boy was who…

December 24, 2005
Philosophy

Derrida and metaphor

In his essay, “White Mythology,” Derrida offers this critical discussion of Aristotle: “This is the difference between animals and man: according to Aristotle both can emit indivisible sounds, but only man can make of them a letter . . . Aristotle does not analyze this difference; he interprets it by…

December 24, 2005

Chronology in 2 Kings 15

There’s a chronological problem in 2 Kings 15:1. Here’s the issue: Amaziah of Judah reigned for 29 years (14:2). Jeroboam II became king in the 15th year of Amaziah (14:23). Yet, Azariah, the son of Amaziah, does not become king until the 27th year of Jeroboam II. Hence: Year 1…

December 24, 2005
History

Christianity and Modernity

Wells makes the very interesting point that postmodernism has done to modernity in a few decades what Christian opposition to modernity was incapable of doing over the course of centuries: “On just about every front Enlightenment ideas have been fought by Christians - whether in the academy, with its pervasive…

December 23, 2005

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